HOF breakdown: LaDainian Tomlinson had no peers at running back

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

The NFL season is right around the corner, and this year's Hall of Fame inductions will rightfully kick off the campaign.

The 2017 class is composed of Morton Anderson, Terrell Davis, Kenny Easley, Jerry Jones, Jason Taylor, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Kurt Warner. Over the next two weeks, we'll highlight the four best-known players - Warner, Tomlinson, Davis, and Taylor. This edition covers LT.

A fantastic and highly productive player at TCU, Tomlinson was the fifth overall pick by San Diego in a 2001 draft class that saw Michael Vick go first overall. Incidentally, the Chargers also selected Drew Brees - a future Hall of Famer in his own right - in the second round of that draft.

Tomlinson burst on the scene with over 1,600 total yards and 10 touchdowns in his rookie season. For eight years in a row, he rushed for over 1,000 yards, including back-to-back 1,600-yard seasons in 2002 and 2003 and an amazing 1,815-yard season in 2006.

Tomlinson also averaged slightly over 475 receiving yards across those first eight years. And in that 2003 season, he combined for 2,370 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns. Needless to say, if you were lucky enough to have the first overall pick in your fantasy draft during those years, Tomlinson was an easy selection. And he never let you down.

But what made Tomlinson truly special? This was a running back that had it all.

His balance was as good as any back in the league, as he played low and didn’t give tacklers much to hit. His feet were tremendous, as both his change of direction and lateral agility were superb. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for him to jump-cut two gaps. For example, he could be heading toward the A-gap between a guard and the center and laterally explode to accelerate through the C-gap outside the tackle. Few runners can pull this off.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Tomlinson had power, acceleration, and speed. He was an elite short-yardage back and a touchdown-producing machine who scored double-digit TDs in every one of his seasons with the Chargers. He even scored a ridiculous 31 touchdowns in a 2006 season in which he won the MVP award. Oh, and he also threw seven TD passes during his career!

And yet, despite everything else he brought to the table, LT's receiving ability set him apart - especially during the era he played in. Of all the running backs currently in the top 10 all time in rushing yardage, only Marshall Faulk caught more passes than Tomlinson.

Of course, it wasn’t all that long ago, and Tomlinson rightfully didn’t have to wait long before gaining induction into the Hall of Fame. But he did face fewer nickel and dime defenses than receiving backs do today. That obviously helped him in the passing game - as he was often abusing linebackers - but it also made running room a bit scarcer than it might be for someone like David Johnson or Le’Veon Bell today.

Tomlinson was in Johnson and Bell’s class as a receiver, though, and if he played today, would probably be used in that capacity even more - even though he did catch 100 passes in just his third NFL season. No one in history had ever rushed for 1,000 yards and caught 100 passes in the same campaign before Tomlinson.

Philip Rivers did a great job pre-snap of getting Tomlinson into mismatches in San Diego’s favor, but the game has recently expanded even further for receiving backs.

In the end, Tomlinson would have been special in any era and truly ranks among the best running backs in the history of the game. But in a way, he was also a little before his time.